Demonstrations and marches were held in sites throughout the country with sizes of several hundred to several thousand gathering at a given time.

Belarus has been described for several years as Europe's "last dictatorship" with no genuine political opposition against Lukashenko possible.

The country has also been in an economic recession since 2015 due to falling gasoline prices and that year a law was passed taxing the unemployed.

[8] On 25 March, opposition leader Vladimir Nekliayev, who was set to speak at the main protest, was stopped in the morning on his way to Minsk, his wife said.

[9] The government defended the mass arrests and beatings against citizens by alleging that the police had found "petrol bombs and arms-laden cars" near a protest in Minsk.